x40oz

Bought my truck with a small oil leak. Changed the oil, now I have a big leak. Truck has 180k on it, but the motor was replaced at 150k. I assume during the instal that maybe they rolled the rear main or didnt get full contact on the oil pan seal. Either way it is leaking from the back of the motor and as I said, now leaking worse (about a 3" circle in the driveway) after one night of being parked.

1. Is there any harm in continuing to drive with the leak?
2. Will any additives help - long term?

dieseltwitch

1. Not so long as your oil pressure can be maintained. But you better be checking the oil level daily if not hourly during a drive. if that's what its leaking sitting still, imagine what its doing under pressure.

2. No

If its the oil pan seal that's a quick/cheap fix! start there. Also you could clean the snot out of everything under there. I steam clean my motor every month, helps spot problems before they become hidden in the gunk.

x40oz

Since I have a 4wd, the oil pan is not an easy job. Best I can do for oil pan is make sure all bolts are tight.

dieseltwitch

Also see if you can get your hand on a UV flashlight and some UV oil dye. I've tracked down many leaks with that stuff!

uzikaduzi

i'm not a huge fan of pb blaster (sorry guys) and i imagine it will eventually eat a rubber gasket/seal.. but it does swell rubber quite well... I've seen it myself but there was a guy on here that was trying to get his lower control arms off to replace the bushings because they were quite loose and broken down and the metal sleeve in it has sezed (sp?) to the bolt... he soaked it in pb blaster (which didn't help remove it) and it swelled the bushing to the point where it didn't make noise any more... it's a stretch if that will work, but might be a temporary fix